EP Review-ONO.MATO.POEI​C by Lorine Chia

As the line between R&B and rap fades away you wonder how long that sliver of genius’s sat on the sidelines waiting for a market that fit them. How many great minds went into offices and had to be told they didn’t fit well enough into either category and wouldn’t find marketing? Now that the wall has fallen we have rap that is smoother and more listenable and R&B with more teeth and different perspectives, Lorine Chia is a great example of the new world we live in.

The internet tells me she was born in Cameroon and moved to Cleveland (obviously to watch the Browns play football) and her delivery definitely walks with the faded apparition of a reggae flow. The first song Monstarage uses that flow to make an already creepy song downright spooky. Slade Da Monsta does all the production and as frighteningly jagged and shattered as the beat behind Monstarage is, the next song FeelItBaby is its exact opposite. FeelitBaby is a neat and tidy dance beat and a melody/hook that is simply irresistible. It is my favorite song on ONO.MATO.POEIC because that’s the song where I signed over my mind to her ability and said “stuff this with as many catchy hooks and turns of phrase as you have, bring it back though.”

She has a crisp clear tone that you always understand but a stylish accent to each word. Burn One is a great example of this, Lorine is not giving you a Cassie style phone sex delivery but what you do go get is alluring in a sophisticated middle ground where she isn’t trying to find the height of her register or mutter low in the track.

Two reasons to listen: 1. Every single damn word Lorine says on this EP sounds like the chorus hitting its high mark. This is a person that breathes world eating earwig lines. 2. Slade Da Monsta continually moves things in different directions. Only One doesn’t seem to have a beat that fits anything, too bassy but not anthemic enough, it’s great to hear Lorine wrestle it to the ground and make it into a lovely love song. These two should rent a pink house and make LOTS of this music.